Download family science/math night lesson plan

Starry, Starry Night
Presenter’s name: Chris Beyer
Age Group: K-2
Activity title (catchy!): Starry, Starry Night
Topic: Earth, Moon, Sun and Stars
Lesson Overview
Students will learn about our planet, the earth, the moon, the sun and stars. They will learn how
they move in relation to each other. There are three active and hands on activities to get the
students involved in learning, including acting out the paths of the earth and moon, and looking
at various constellations.
Sources Consulted (complete reference):
1. Activity Guide – Star Finder, Folders 1 and 2
2. http://www.kidsastronomy.com/solar_system.htm - Information on our Solar System
3. http://www.astronomyinyourhands.com/cgi/makestarwheel.chooser.cgi – Information on
constellations and star wheels
Objectives
After this presentation, students will be able to:
1. Define the solar system.
2. Explain and demonstrate the paths of the Earth and the moon - rotation, revolution, orbit, and
length of each
3. Explain what constellations are and recognize several constellations.
List of All Materials Needed (include quantities):
--For a night with 20 kids total-ReusableSign for Sun, Moon, Earth to act out rotation and revolution
Earth, Sun and Moon Pictures (1 each)
Push Pins (~10)
GiveawaysDot to Dot Printout (~20)
Scotch Tape (~5 rolls)
Paper Towel Rolls (~20)
Black Paper Circles (~20)
Room Arrangement or Special Needs: Room needs to have a fairly big space up front, about
12-15 feet by 12-15 feet for students to do the earth’s orbit activity.
Procedure (show time for each part of presentation):
Welcome
(1 min)
Intro
(1min)
Astronomy
(3 min)
Earth, Sun, Moon
(3 min)
Orbit Activity
(7 min)
Stars
(3 min)
Constellations
(3 min)
Dot to Dot
(4 min)
Pinhole Constellations (5 min)
Original Constellations
Filler
(5 min)
Learning Assessment (2 min)
Material Gathering (5 min) _
Total
(45 min)
Attention-getter:
Putting the colored Earth transparency in front of my face, and asking what it is.
Welcome to Family Science Night! Family Science Night is put on by the Western
Upper Peninsula Center for Science and Math. Science Nights are held every year at elementary
schools throughout the Western Upper Peninsula! All the activities are run by Michigan Tech
students from a wide variety of majors, including engineers, biologists, forestry students and
many others. (1 min)
My name is Chris, and I am in the Chemical Engineering department at Michigan Tech.
Today my assistant’s name is ______. <Introduction of assistant> When I graduate, I hope to
go into the food business. One of my favorite foods in the whole world is hot dogs, and I think it
would be awesome to make hot dogs for a living! (1min)
Tonight, we are going to learn about ASTRONOMY! Can everyone say astronomy?
Awesome! What is astronomy? <Wait for answers> Right! Astronomy is the study of planets,
the moon, the sun and the stars! Does anyone know what this is? (picture of earth) <Wait for
answers> Right, it’s our planet, Earth. How can you tell? Good. How about this, what is this?
(picture of moon) That’s right, it’s the moon. And how about this one, what is this? (picture of
the sun) Right, it’s the sun. Can you look right at the sun? Right, you can’t. It’s too bright, it
will hurt your eyes if you look right at it. (3 min)
Does the earth move? Yes, it does move. How does the Earth move? It spins! This is
called rotation. So the Earth rotates, or spins. One complete rotation of Earth is equal to one
day. This is how we get day and night! Also, the earth moves around something. Do you know
what it moves around? Right, the sun! This is called an orbit or a revolution. Can everyone say
Orbit? Good! The Earth moves around the sun, and that is Earth’s orbit. It takes one year for
the earth to complete one revolution around the sun. How about the moon, does it move? The
moon orbits the earth. It takes one month for the Moon to complete one orbit of Earth. So the
moon orbits the earth, the earth spins and revolves around the sun! Wow! If we act it out, you
will be able to see what I mean! Let’s get everyone up here in outer space. (3 min)
--Activity 1-Everyone starts as the sun! Get in a group right over here. I need someone to be the
earth. OK, you be the earth (give them Earth picture). What does the Earth do? Right it rotates,
or spins. Face student towards the sun. Ask, ‘Can you see the sun?’ Right, you can, so is it day
or night? Right, it’s daytime. Turn student around. Now can you see the sun? Nope, you can’t.
It must be night time. But wait, what about your back? That is facing the sun. So different parts
of Earth have daytime and night time at different times. When it is daytime here, on the other
side of the world it’s night time! OK earth, start spinning! OK, someone needs to be the moon.
Here’s the moon picture. What does the moon do? It orbits the earth, right. Start orbiting the
earth! Is the Earth getting dizzy yet? Ok, remember, what does the earth orbit around? Right,
the sun. So we need to try to get the earth and moon to go around the sun! Try to get the orbits
right, and laugh a lot! OK, let’s get everyone back in their seats.
Alright! So we learned why we have day and night, and how the Earth and moon travel
around the sun. How long does it take the Earth to rotate one time? One rotation of the Earth is
one day, remember? How many hours is that? Right, it’s 24 hours. How long does it take for
the earth to orbit around the sun? One revolution, or orbit of the earth around the sun takes one
year. Does anyone know how many days that is? Right, there are 365 days in a year. That’s
how long it takes for the earth to go around the sun once. (7 min)
So we talked about the sun, the earth and the moon. At night time when you look up in
the sky, what else can you see besides the moon? Stars! Right! There are a lot of stars. People
have been looking at the stars for a long time. Did anyone know that our sun is just another star?
It’s OUR STAR! Does anyone think that stars are cool? Wait for a ‘Yes’ answer. So why else
are stars cool? <wait for answers> I think stars are cool, because I can see pictures in the sky
that stars make! A picture in the sky that is made up of stars is called a Constellation! Can
everyone say constellation? <constellation> Ah, that wasn’t very loud! Try again!
<CONSTELLATION!> There you go! (3 min)
Activity 2-Constellation Dot to Dots
-Materials1) Dot-to-dot constellation handout
Hand out the different Dot to Dots. After the kids are done, ask them what they look like.
There are five different constellations. <Answers should be something like –A person! –A
hunter!> <I don’t know what mine looks like> Discussion- some look more like pictures than
others. Talk about the stories. (3 min)
Activity 3—
Looking at pinhole constellations.
-Materials1) Black Construction Paper Circles
2) Paper towel rolls
Students will look at the pinhole constellations and then compare them to the dot to dots
that they just made. Talk about the differences between the dot to dot’s and the pinhole
constellations. There are other stars in the sky in the dot to dot, and the pinhole constellations
are just the picture. (4 min)
Filler
Making original constellations! <This is my own activity that I made up, so there’s no source>
-Materials1) Black Construction Paper Circles
2) Paper Towel rolls
3) Push Pin(5 min)
--SAFETY-BE CAREFUL WITH THE PUSH PIN! It is very sharp and you could get hurt. Parents,
please help your child poke the star holes.
Think of a simple picture that you could make into a constellation. Then, using the
pencil, make a few dots to make the general shape of the constellation. Next, poke small holes
right through the stars. Then, take the pre cut circle and put it at the end of your paper towel roll.
You’re done! Look up at the light to see your very own constellation.
How does the earth move? <It spins! It orbits the sun!>
Why do we get day and night? <Because the Earth spins away from the sun!>
What is the Solar System? <It’s our sun and the nine planets!>
What is a picture made of stars called? <Constellation>(2 min)
--Thank you for coming to Family Science Night!
Assessment of Student Learning:
How does the earth move?
Why do we get day and night?
What is the Solar System?
What is a picture made of stars called?
Filler:
Original Constellations
Take Home Handouts and/or materials:
Star Charts
Original Constellations
Solar System Printout
Dot to Dot
Cleanup:
Pick up scraps of paper from the star charts, gather extra brass clips, scissors, markers, tape,
flashlights into Tupperware bins. I will collect penny nails from the parents.
Safety Considerations:
Parents need to help with the use of scissors, I will hand out the penny nails to the parents for
their use.